Guess I'm Just Lucky Then - A Short Story
by MrFredCDobbs
Summary: A lost scene from the Citadel DLC in which a certain krogan learns of a certain human holiday.


Alliance Navy Commander Jane Shepard answered the heavy knock at the door of her Silversun Strip apartment on the Citadel and was greeted by the sight of a grinning 800-lbs krogan warrior in full armor and bearing a crudely-wrapped parcel in his hands. For most people this would be a disconcerting sight, but most people aren't Commander Shepard. She took it in stride because she knew this krogan. He had, in fact, called ahead. 

"_So, Grunt, what's up? You said you had something for me?_" she asked. 

"_Well, I got you a gift_," he replied. 

This was a bit disconcerting for the commander, bullets being the only thing that the krogan were known to give to others in any abundance. "_Thanks, but it's not my birthday. Why get me something?_" she asked. 

Grunt shrugged. "_It's for that human holiday you just had. I forget what it's called,_" he replied. 

Shepard pulled up her omni-tool's calendar. "_Holiday? What are you talking about? The only thing we have had recently is Mother's Day._" 

"_Yeah, that's the one! Here,"_ Grunt said, dropping the parcel - which turned out to be much heavier than it looked - into the commander's arms before heading into her kitchen, where he started rummaging through the refrigerator. 

"_Never even heard about this thing until a few days ago. I made friends with this human soldier while I was recovering at the hospital here on the Citadel. Asked him what he was doing the other day and he said, 'Shopping on the extranet for a Mother's Day gift,'_" Grunt explained, his back to Shepard as he evaluated the state of her leftovers. 

The krogan warrior continued: "_'What's that?' I said. He said there's this day where humans give a gift to the female that raised them, to thank them for watching out for them and making sure they got set up okay in life. 'It's coming up in a few days,' he told me._" 

"_And I thought, 'Shepard's a human female and she did all of those things for me. I should get her one.'_" 

Grunt settled on an unopened bottle of wine he found on the refrigerator's bottom shelf and proceeded to bite its neck off. He turned back around towards Shepard and noticed that she had yet to say anything in response. Instead she was just silently staring at him. 

"_Did I do something wrong?_" Grunt asked, as he chewed and swallowed the glass. 

The krogan commando witnessed something he had never once seen in his entire time serving on the crew of the Normandy SR-2: Commander Shepard hesitating. 

After a long pause that felt even longer, Shepard finally said: "_No, it's just that ... Calling me 'battlemaster,' sure... But 'mother' ...? I'm ... not sure that fits._" 

Grunt took a slug of wine and waved the comment away with his free hand. "_Whatever the title is that you humans use for this thing. All I know is that while Warlord Okeer created me, you were the one that got me out of the tank. Most people wouldn't have risked having a tank-bred krogan around. Jedore would have just had me killed. But you took me on as a crewmember, kept me in line, taught me on the battlefield, and made sure I passed the Rite of Initiation and joined Clan Urdnot. You made sure I had a place in this galaxy_." 

"_And now look at me! Leader of Aralakh Company, Tuchanka's most feared commando squad!_" Grunt proclaimed, throwing his arms open and spraying some wine across the kitchen in the process. 

"_I owe it all to you,_" he said. 

A smile slowly crept on to Shepard's face. "_Thank you, Grunt. For what it's worth, I am quite proud of you._" 

Grunt pointed to the parcel he had dropped in her arms earlier. "_You gonna open that or what?_" 

"_Oh, yes!_" Shepard replied. She tore off the wrapping and pulled out a shining new claymore shotgun. 

"_I love it!_" she exclaimed. 

"_I had the three-finger grip replaced with a custom-made five-finger one,_" Grunt pointed out. "_You know, that Armax place is just across the street. We could go over now and try it out..._" 

The commander nodded and they headed out together. As they crossed the Silversun Strip, Grunt asked, "_What was it that confused you earlier?_" 

"_Your gift was unexpected. I hadn't thought that the holiday would apply to me. Most human mothers don't do things like take their kid along on a suicide mission through the Omega Four Relay_," Shepard explained. 

"_Huh,_" replied Grunt. "_Guess I'm just lucky then. Heh-heh-heh..._"


End file.
